The spin on the childcare commission is that it will look at measures to deregulate childcare provision and expand childminding, in line with the arguments recently made by Liz Truss, a Conservative MP. Ministers have also said that they want to expand more wrap-around care for schoolchildren.
Unfortunately, these goals can point in different directions. Liz Truss blames the Labour Government's expansion of nursery places and early years regulatory standards for a decline in childminding places and an increase in childcare fees. But if you look at the statistics, in the period 2005-2010, when nursery and day care places underwent their most significant expansion, childminder numbers dropped much more sharply for over-fives than for 0 - threes, largely because the Labour Government expanded beforeand after-school clubs in this period as well, as part of its extended schools strategy.
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